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One of my players asked me the other day how many of the NPCs they have encountered were part of the adventure Path as written. After a whole bunch of yes and no’s, we figured out only about 5% of the 100 or so major NPCs were actually part of the AP (As a side note, we are now up to 273 NPCs that have at least a paragraph or two written about them, so the ratio gets even smaller the farther we go!)
I am interested to hear about any NPCs that your group found memorable, that you really liked, or unexpectedly became a major player in your game when they started out as a bit part. I think there was a thread about nobility somewhere earlier in the forums, but I thought this one should be for any NPCs.
Here are the three voted most memorable by my players:
In any case, the daughters are played as a band of very attractive women who are badass Goths, with heavy mascara and tattoos, wear a lot of dark clothes, party hard, and can turn up just about anywhere the GM likes, since they hunt across all sorts of borders.
Description: The Daughters are an ever changing band of 6-12 wronged women who were raped or abused (or had someone close to them experience this) by nobles, rich merchants, or powerful people. Their abusers used their status (political, nobility, or money) to escape consequences, so these women act to punish other villains who likewise use their status to abuse female smallfolk. Their only purpose in life is to seek retribution on these villains, hunting them, tormenting them, making them suffer, and eventually killing them. They owe allegiance to no faction, travel wherever their quarry take them, and ignore most of the laws of the lands, as they travel about quite a bit and are hard to pin down by sheriffs. When a new member joins their band, their next mission becomes seeking retribution on her attacker.
They are led by Anithiwiel, an elven dirge bard who worships Calistria, uses a whip, and whose ghostly violin can be heard across the moors at night as the Daughters pursue their next victims. For the longest time, the party thought this was some sort of fey making the music. She and the queen in our game ended up forging a friendship and the queen wrote into the kingdom charter that The Daughters are the official punishment for rape in their kingdom. Needless to say, this offense is nearly unheard of in the PCs kingdom.
Their main spiritual advisor is Selene, a Dark Tapestry oracle who looks like a young girl (wearing Victorian clothes) with solid black eyes, evil tendencies, is slightly mad, and often acts in a somewhat alien manner. It is she that selects the next target for The Daughters. When asked once by the PCs how she knew who to hunt, she told them that the Elder God she serves makes her experience every one of the crimes in question as if she were the victim. (You may want to leave this part out if your party is squeamish, contains young members, or those who have experienced these sort of crimes IRL). I mainly added this in to make her even more disturbing to my PCs.
Description: The Weeping Warrior (Arkadys Visorian) is a powerfully built Aldori swordsman in his mid-30s. His most striking features are his twin swords, his long hair (which he keeps swept across his face as much as possible), and the permanent black streaked tears he has tattooed down his face, representing his sorrow and loss of honor. He fights in the Aldori style of both MIvon and Brevoy (I used feats to separate these two). He is currently the only known Aldori to practice the Janus style of fighting with two Aldori blades at once, though he almost always uses only one, in the more traditional form. His two blades are of exquisite quality and craftsmanship, one dark and made of admantite, and the other silvery and made of mithril. If pressed into a duel, he fights with only one sword – silver for honor duels, and dark metal for duels to the death.
The tragic tale of his past begins in House Romanowsky, a now deceased fallen noble family. Arkadys story begins as the champion to Lord Romanowsky, an older Baron in Rogarvia. When his Lord (whom his father also served as Champion) died, he left the title to his treacherous and ambitious young heir. Shortly after the Swordlords of Brevoy were defeated by Choral at the Valley of Fire, young Lord Romanowsky sought to take control of the Swordlords by slaughtering their ruling council in a surprise attack at the wedding of two council families. He failed, but drew the wrath of the remaining Swordlords, who fought him back to his castle, where they laid siege, stormed the castle, and killed him.
Even though Arkadys despised his lord and his honorless treachery, his oath as champion and his Swordlord pride would not allow him to surrender or stop fighting an extremely lost cause. He and Lord Romanowsky fought to the bitter end, being the last two enemy combatants standing in the rubble of the castle hall. He killed many brave swordlords in this fight, and only when his lord was finally killed by arrow fire while he was engaged in battle did he surrender.
Impressed by his skill and devoted loyalty, the Aldori council released him, whereupon he broke his sword, and left, never to be seen again. That is until the party encountered him in an enemy camp, where he was hired as a mercenary….
Arkadis plays basically as an extreme ronin type character, silent, gloomy, honor-driven, and with very little attachment to his own life. Despite his own feelings of shame and dishonor, his actions have earned him renown among the Swordlords, who consider him somewhat of a mythical folk hero and paragon of their kind. He avoids any acclaim or accolades, believing the taint of his earlier allegiance to stain any good deeds he has performed since. He is only alive today because his instinct to survive and win in combat won’t let him quit or die. This character walks a fine line between being Hamlet and Emo.
Description: Sir Marco is a cheerful, adventurous knight, who is always glad to lend a hand to anyone in need of a trusty sword or lance in battle. He leads a small band of similar knights, and travels the land, often popping up when least expected but most needed. He is quite respectful of any martial or noble PCs and praises them for any brave deeds they may have accomplished. His only shield Device is a Black Swan on a white field.
Sir Marco plays like a mini-superhero, showing up to help turn the tide and help the party (or other worthy dignitaries) out of a bind. I never needed to use him to save the party’s bacon, but they took a liking to him when he tagged along on their first few mass combats. He took on a larger role when my PCs started asking all the nobles traveling to their kingdom for any reason if they were “going to bring Sir Marco with them”. Always looking for adventure, and highly sought after by nobles wishing to impress the Queen, he often appears in the PCs kingdom.
Please post your own memorable NPCs, as I would love to see what other GMs have done in their own games!
Human Paladin of Erastil, from a cadet branch of the Medvyed; his opportunistic older brother sent him away from the parent's manor, so he turned to the church of Erasil.
Party met him in the forest as a Hunter random encounter, and never thought he was noble for months, until someone noted a wreck emblem on his saddle.
Currently married with the Oracle PC as the royal couple of rulers.
Skinwalker (Fanglord) Swashbuckler (Inspired Blade), not a noble but friend of the House Medvyed.
Party met him during a Treaty Negotiation.
Currently married with the Ranger PC (Marshal), not owning any position in the kingdom leadership.
Human Summoner (Synthesist), fallen in love for the PC Summoner since she was a child. Became a Summoner to emulate him too, but the party never realize it and still ignore her 'class levels'.
Currently serving as Grand Diplomat, and wishing to be married.
Has a secret life as "The Dark Knight", defending the citizens from thieves.
Human Magus (bladebound, kensai), inspired by Agent Philip Coulson of Marvel's Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D; an Aldori Swordlord, currently serving as ambassador for Restov in the PC's kingdom.
Extremely jealous of his black blade Aldori Sword: Lola
Got her from the noble NPC thread.
Human tomboy noble daughter of a distant noble family. Currently serving as Lady in waiting for the Baroness (Oracle PC), and probably becoming her future Cohort.
Some kind of Arya Stark NPC.
Halfling Aristocrat, Castle's majordomo of the Barony.
Very biting and sarcastic in remembering the Baroness PC to use the proper etiquette.
Also from mine Kobold-maker campaign: where the party is composed of 5 kobold PCs, all the KM AP is rewritten from the Sootscales prospective, and Old Sharptooth is a real minor god granting the party mythic powers.
Kobold wounded when the Mites stole the Idol. Got marginalized by the rest of the tribe. Volunteered to help the party once they ascended. Died while fighting a rival kobold tribe, but Old Sharptooth resurrected him as Reanimated Medium, currently serving as the Figher PC's Cohort.
Six years in-game time later, they're married with a newborn daughter, and the CE Warmage magister has the most stable relationship and most "normal" life of the entire party.
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Wow, I really like a lot of these!
I particularly like Craster Fekseyev (I really missed an opportunity to inflict a character like this on my party), Dame Yeana, and Belle Leighn.
Orthos, Belle is such a great idea, that I'm thinking I might like to borrow her if my party ever kills the Dancing Lady.
Keep them coming!
Glad you like! She's been one of the group's favorite NPCs thus far, as well as having a major effect on the entire campaign setting; one of my plans, as Kingmaker is nearing its end, is to revisit their kingdom in the future as a revised Curse of the Crimson Throne game. Given the lifespan of her new species, Belle will likely still be around even all those centuries later.
The Envoys of Gyronna:
Nekista Syla the Silvertongued, green hag bard 4. Often appears as a comely young elf woman.
Toboura the Fervent, annis hag cleric of Gyronna 3. When not in her natural form, she would appear as a muscular female human crusader.
Mamuna the Wretched, river (sea) hag witch 5. The only one not able to change her shape, Mamuna looked like a hideous bent-backed crone, although she wore a black veil to cover her horrific appearance.
I created them to give some spell support to the trolls in book 2, but they ended up taking on a life of their own and were basically the foes that the PCs interacted with, and despised, the most.
The names are all from Russian or Slavic or Finnish folklore; I forget exactly. I got that idea for the source by seeing where Malgorzata Niska's name derived from (the Gyronna cult leader in book 2).
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Since I was already having Pylyp as ambassador for Restov, I had Craster serving as Varnhold ambassador. He is very hated by mine players too.
I really liked when one of them asked: "Why did Varn sent him to us? I thought we were friends with him" and another one replied: "Of course, he doesn't want him to be in his town. That's not a political move against us, it's merely survival!"
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Michelena Aldori:
GM's Notes: I needed an NPC to guide the PCs during Kingdom Building, explain Brevic politics, and remind them that they are a vassal state. I wanted a character who personified Machiavelli's Prince: brutal political pragmatism, with the desire for Florentine independence transferred to Restov.
Michelena started off being the hated but necessary advisor to the PCs. She would remind them of the weakness of their cities and armies, and the foolishness of statements of independence, or even rudeness to their neighbors. The PCs knew she had a network of spies, had ulterior motives, and did not think highly of them. After an escapade into Restov, they found out she was actually out of favour with the Aldori- her machinations for Restov independence resulted in her husband being killed, and her own death when she was forced to duel her daughter. She was resurrected by a cleric who owed her a favour, and then sent into exile with her two adult children and her older brother. Her family members had each joined one of the adventuring groups settling the Stolen Lands.
As the campaign unfolded, Michelena lost her daughter in the Varnhold Vanishing, and gained new respect for the PCs as they continued to overcome great threats. She proved useful to the PCs with her advice, and would even offer them solace during hard challenges. The PCs did learn to hide things from her though, and as they came to BfB, they stopped depending on her for advice.
Before the opening of BfB, I had a delegation from Brevoy visit the Kingdom, basically insulting everything they did. The naive but well-meaning Prince of Brevoy gave gold and art to the PCs as gifts to the vassals, then passed along an order declaring Michelena guilty of treason. The PCs would have to executive her on the morrow.
The PCs question Michelena in the dungeon, where she revealed she has always wanted Restov independence, and the best way to achieve that was a civil war in Brevoy- the settlements in the Stolen Lands being crucial to upset the balance of power in Brevoy. She has no regrets, and in fact believes her execution will make her a martyr for the cause, and will be remembered Rostland and Restov consider the tyranny of the Surtovas.
Surprising me, the PCs were very grateful to her for everything she had done. I think the fact that they could she see she was willing to die for her cause- twice- revealed her finally as being an idealist, and not just a cold-blooded pragmatist. The Witch organised the use of Reincarnation for her after her execution. Michelena now poses as a handmaiden to one of the PCs, sharing her wisdom with the PCs. Her stats also look amazing now.
Her son and her brother are also still on the scene, but no one has really influenced the PCs more than her. I'm particularly by how the PCs have changed their opinions on her, now they feel less insulted when their pride is stung, and they begin to view the bigger picture of events.
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Hollow Graves. LN Human Necromancer
A Pathfinder Society member found exploring an area called Coyote Rock, which I inserted to add some gunslingers and elven skinwalkers to the campaign. At this point I had cut six players out of the 12 player group, and Hollow had animated their bodies as zombies to use against the gunslinging bandits holed up in Coyote Rock.
He very nearly died in that first encounter, but escaped. Enamoured with one of the PCs, he became a recurring character, was briefly the Kingdom's Magister, and is currently second in charge of the Candlemere Academy for Magically Gifted Youngsters. He travels with a heavily armoured human skeleton familiar called Sir Clackers. Is engaged to one of the PCs, and conducts the magical research when the PCs go adventuring. His dream is to create a new subschool of Necromancy, called Biomancy, and use it to create an Arcane source of healing.
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Michelena Aldori:** spoiler omitted **...
Truly interesting and well-played character.
I am struck again by all the interesting and very different choices everyone's rulers make in all these Kingmaker games. It makes me want to read everyone's campaign event log like novels LOL. Your party handled that whole situation with the ultimatum in a very Machiavellian fashion, which gives credit back to your original idea for Michelena.
I'm afraid in the same situation, the queen in my game would either declare war on Brevoy or arrange for the prince to be kidnaped, taken off in the swamp somewhere, beaten up, and left for dead. Even if it meant losing her kingdom. She is a bit more Tony Soprano than Niccolo Machiavelli... :)